i just did a new install. the order of operations (for a non-expert install) is as follows (with time into install and user prompts noted):
minute operation ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 0 config local/language (prompt) 0 load d-i from cdrom 1 config hostname (prompt) 1 detect hardware 2 config disk partitioning (prompt) 2 disk partitioning 5 config timezone (prompt) 5 config users (prompt) 5 install base system 10 config mirror (prompt) 10 test connection to mirror 11 config popcon (prompt) 11 config tasksel (prompt) 11 download packages 41 install packages 51 config grub (prompt) 51 reboot it may perhaps seem not much of a burden to require the user to attend to the installer for the first 11 minutes, but nevertheless, that is 11 minutes of their life not spent on other things. i think if the prompts were aggregated to proceed in sequence, it would be much better. i understand that this is not an easy task, but it should be worth it for users that install a lot of systems. here is the order of operations that i suggest (disregarding current perceived technical limitations). information entered into the prompts can be stored in a temporary location until the disk is available to move the info to the right place: config local/language (prompt) load d-i from cdrom config hostname (prompt) config timezone (prompt) config users (prompt) detect hardware config mirror (prompt) test connection to mirror config popcon (prompt) config tasksel (prompt) config grub (prompt) config disk partitioning (prompt) disk partitioning install base system download packages install packages reboot if these comments seem useful, please reopen, otherwise i'll finally let this go. its up to you. mike -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]